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Illusive Networks<\/a>, a cybersecurity startup based out of Israel that protects networks by building \u201cdeception\u201d frameworks to identify and trap malicious hackers, is today announcing that it has\u00a0added Microsoft Ventures \u2014 the software giant\u2019s young\u00a0investment arm<\/a> \u2014 as its newest strategic investor. In keeping with the its\u00a0name and purpose in this world, Illusive is not disclosing any details about the terms of this investment \u2014 except that it\u2019s new, and who has made it.<\/p>\n It brings the total raised by\u00a0the startup to something more than\u00a0$30 million, after Illusive picked up $22 million in 2015 led by NEA. Others\u00a0investors include<\/a> Cisco also as a strategic backer, Innovation Endeavors, Bessemer Venture Partners, Citi Ventures, Marker, and Team8<\/a> \u2014 a security incubator founded by alums of the Israeli Defense Forces that spawned Illusive. (The IDF is a kind of incubator in itself, in terms of the amount of talent that comes out of it to found startups.)<\/p>\n Separately to today\u2019s news, Microsoft Ventures is also a new backer of Team8, revealing its investment in the firm alongside other common investors like Cisco and Citi earlier this month<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u00a0have made the investment just recently,\u201d Mony Hassid, who runs Microsoft Ventures in Israel, told TechCrunch of Illusive. \u201cWe have made a decision to invest in the deception market, and we believe there are more security opportunities, which is why we have invested in Team8 in addition to this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Illusive was founded in 2014 and it is part of a new guard of security firms \u2014 they include other startups like Shape Security<\/a> but also larger firms like Imperva<\/a> that have built \u201cdeception\u201d products alongside their existing detection and response businesses. These have emerged in the wake of a large, significant evolution in technology.<\/p>\n Large organizations now all\u00a0run\u00a0their businesses in large, distributed, digital networks; and with that trend\u00a0a very distributed and sophisticated cadre of malicious hackers has arisen \u2014 working independently; in teams; for governments; for crime syndicates; for themselves. Their aim: to break\u00a0into that proliferation of\u00a0networks, to do\u00a0bad things. This confluence has caused an unprecedented number of destructive and increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks and hacks in the last few years.<\/p>\n Illusive accepts that malicious hackers will manage to find ways into networks: it doesn\u2019t deal in firewalls or anything that might keep them out full stop. Instead, it takes a page out of another development in tech \u2014 virtual and augmented reality \u2014 and creates an alternate, false version of a company\u2019s\u00a0network to trap those hackers.<\/p>\n \u201cThere will always be a phishing\u00a0or drive-by attack,\u201d founder and CEO\u00a0Ofer Israeli said in an interview. \u201cHumans are the weakest link and always will be and will continue to make mistakes. But once the hacker\u00a0is in, now we have an attacker who needs to orient himself.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Once a hacker finds himself (or herself) in the Illusive version of your network, Illusive identifies that individual\u00a0and either keeps him locked in there forever, or ejects him for good.<\/p>\n Illusive does\u00a0not specify who its customers are but Israeli describes them as large enterprises, of 1,000 or more employees, who are \u201csome of the largest in the world, household names in different verticals.\u201d They include large banks (recall Citi is an investor), tech companies, law firms and more. <\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear yet how Microsoft will work with Illusive, but the idea is to tap strategics to build solutions for their products,\u00a0and also to sell to their customers as well. This would make sense for companies like Microsoft and Cisco, who may already have security offerings but are working with customers who need extra levels of protection beyond what is already available.<\/p>\n Illusive is not disclosing its valuation in this round.<\/p>\n \n <\/p>\n